You can probably reach me (David Weisman) at davidwei at optonline dot net, but my spam filter is set at ultrahigh because of youthful indescretions with pay per click rewards programs.
I live in New York state near the coast, and my wife and I share a co-op. I'm usually somewhat left of center, but I try to think things through and not parrot anybody's party line. Besides politics I spend a fair amount of time playing computer games, and am interested in science and the Global Brain as well.

There are many in the Iraqi government who don't seem to be working as hard as they can on uniting Iraq. I can't judge this proposal for myself, but if there's hope at all we should trust Petraeus and Gates. Our negotiators need to make it clear that if they want us to keep our troops in there they have to work towards peace.

Bush needs to say that while he can veto troop time limits for now, the Iraqi government needs to work harder. That's right, instead of calling his opponents unpatriotic, use them for leverage. And yes, at least some Democrats need to emphasize they'll be much less likely to support this sort of legislation in the future if genuine progress is made - before a president who might not veto it comes into office.

Good but infrequently updated blogs

Blogs around the world

Connectivity Blogs

Amnesty Rebels

These are all links to blog posts about the so-called Blogroll Amnesty Day. I wasn't on any of the blogrolls involved, but somehow feel no interest in linking to the huge blogs that have no interest in searching for new talent. I'll leave the links to the blogs where I first discovered what happened during my hiatus here as a sort of memorial.

No great loss for my blogroll. Atrios was less readable than Instapundit, Daily Kos is a stereotype of the angry left wing.